The Android Tools Team has been hard at work on version 2.2 of Android Studio, and it's finally ready to step up to a stable release. Demonstrated at Google I/O, the preview release of v2.2 introduced a plethora of great new features and improvements intended to make app development faster and easier. Over the last four months, Studio has been continually tested and refined to get it ready for all developers, regardless of which development channels they're normally following. For anybody that hasn't been following along with the canary or dev builds, the video below summarizes many of the new improvements in this release.

Yesterday's Google I/O keynote gave an introduction to some of the great new improvements to Android Studio 2.2, but it only scratched the surface. Today, the Android Tools Team took to the stage again to detail even more about the things they've been doing to make work easier for developers. Topics ranged from new tools like the APK Analyzer and Espresso Test Recorder to big improvements in the code editor and inspectors. We can't cover everything, but here is a summary of the main topics presented today.

New Layout Editor

One of the two hot topics introduced during the keynote is a brand new layout editor.

As is traditional following the leak of a new ROM dump, developers have already set to work porting the novel Android flavour to other devices. As he did with the Desire HD ROM, XDA-developers' eVil D: has stepped forward to provide a working port of yesterday's HTC Glacier/myTouch 4G ROM to the Nexus One. Cautioning that he "may or may not support this", eVil D: goes on to describe the semi-functional state that the port is currently in:

Espresso UI

If you haven't heard yet, HTC has been developing a new flavor of its own flavor of another flavor of Android called Espresso.

Espresso is an interface built on top of HTC's flagship Sense UI and is expected to make its first appearance in the wild on the upcoming T-Mobile myTouch Slide. We covered the phone and the UI when both of them leaked online.

The T-Mobile MyTouch Slide just can’t get enough of the camera. We’ve already seen it in threecolorconfigurations, and now the good gents at TmoNews have let loose some screenshots of the [sexy?] new HTC Sense revamp, dubbed Espresso.

I’m not sure I’m exactly thrilled with the new ‘bubbly’ icons that they’re using – in my opinion it gives them a cheap, and quite literally, plastic look. They seem to be pushing wood grain and warmer, natural colors in this version over the more industrial/streamlined/modern look of the current HTC Sense UI.

I’m particularly curious about the almost SlideScreen-meets-Windows-7-Phone-Series like…home screen?